Hofman said police took his employee to identify the suspect and the stolen vehicle.

Police said they arrested Calypole near Del Monte Avenue and Broadway in Seaside, about three miles from the scene of the fatal stabbing. He was stopped in a Ford F-150, police said.

The stabbing victim was Daniel Garcia Huerta, 44, of Salinas.

A Monterey Yellow Cab Company employee said Huerta's last fare was a pickup from the Wells Fargo Bank at the Crossroads shopping center in Carmel Valley at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

A fellow Yellow Cab driver said they knew Huerta by his cab number -- 73. He is one of three brothers who drive for the cab company.

Claypole is currently facing drug charges stemming from an incident in summer 2012, according to his lawyer, in which police said they found him wandering the Monterey Peninsula College acting strangely. They said they found methamphetamine in his pocket at that time.